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Xinhua: How Could a Cold Shoulder and a Big Stick Break the North Korea Nuclear Deadlock?

In a Xinhua headline report regarding the North Korea nuclear issue, the editor added the following note:

“On the 5th of this month, North Korea issued a statement declaring three things: first, that the Korean Armistice Agreement would be ‘invalid’ from the time that the U.S.-ROK joint military exercises began on the 11th; second, that the the non-aggression agreement between the two Koreas was totally abolished; and third, that the hot-line between the two Koreas was cut off. At the same time, Korea and the U.S. held a ‘vulture’ and ‘key decision’ joint military exercise and said they would increase their monitoring of the DPRK. 
“After North Korea carried out a third nuclear test and the United Nations announced a new resolution on North Korea, the tension between the DPRK and the ROK-US heightened further. However, the ball is now in the United States’ court. A cold shoulder plus a big stick are not going to resolve the current impasse.”
“How the … can the Peninsula get out of this vicious cycle?" 
“Only by improving relations with the DPRK and making North Korea feel secure, can [the U.S.] help settle the DPRK nuclear issue. It is better than doing the opposite, asking the DPRK to abandon its nuclear program as a precondition to improving U.S.-DPRK relations. This up-side-down policy logic can only lead the relationship to a dead end. Whether it should put down its ‘cold shoulder’ and break the deadlock, or continue the same way, is up to the United States.”
Source: Xinhua, March 12, 2013 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2013-03/12/c_124444019.htm